


'Sea' as a Given Modifier for 'Witch'

by Mirabitur



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Caves, Darcy Lewis is not a sea witch, F/M, Magic, Maybe - Freeform, Mer-people, Mermaids, Octopus Bucky Barnes, Runes, Sort Of, Under the Sea, Witch Darcy Lewis, Witches, kind of, mermaid!steve, octobucky
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-04-24 01:19:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14344965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mirabitur/pseuds/Mirabitur
Summary: Darcy Lewis goes overboard after a hit to the head, and wakes up in a cave in the company of two people that are very much NOT human. And she is not a sea witch, thank you very much.Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes find a land-girl at the bottom of the ocean, somehow still alive. Curiosity gets the better of them, and they bring her to a cave. They are delighted when they that she is a sea witch- maybe they won't have to drown her after all!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I put both relationship tags up there just to be thorough. I don't actually know how the cards are going to fall, but it will be some variation of the three of them.

Darcy woke in fits, sinking in and out of awareness. She fought against the gripping hands of sleep- no. It wasn’t sleep. It was the cold abyss of unconsciousness. She struggled against its weight and felt even more exhausted as she opened her eyes. 

Rough stone. 

There was rough stone above her head, with blue lights flickering over the surface. 

Her clothing was wet, but the ground beneath her was dry.

Where was ‘here’? How had she gotten here? The last thing she could remember was… Was…

 

_ A flash of lightning and a thunderous boom.  _

_ Water spraying against her face. _

_ Stumbling from a sudden movement of the ship. _

_ An unbreakable grip around her ankle that burned as it dragged her over the side. _

_ A great crack as her head hit the railing. _

_ Falling- sinking. _

_ Drifting. _

 

Her head was throbbing something fierce. So she had somehow been pulled overboard, but hadn’t drowned. It was good to see that her runes were working, even after a hit to the head. Passive magic could be tricky, if its user was dead to the world.

Darcy groaned and shifted to cradle her skull in a weak attempt to assuage her aching head. The movement caused the cessation of a murmuring that she only noticed for its’ absence. She darted her head up to look at the source, doing her best to ignore the way her vision spun. Now was not the time to worry about possible concussions, not if she wasn’t yet safe.

When her eyes finally focused on the other occupants of this cave she had found herself in, she gasped in shock, the air rasping through airways that had so recently been filled with water.

There were two men in front of her, and neither of them were human.


	2. Chapter 2

They had found her in the planes between the drop off and the rest of the reef. Not as secure as being within the boundaries of the village, but safer than the deeper parts, where more dangerous things lurked. While life might be plentiful in the reef, not all of it was fit for consumption, so they had to forage what they could elsewhere. They might not have seen her at all, if her hand hadn’t been drifting in the currents, as if reaching for the sky. 

Bucky quirked an eyebrow at Steve, clearly communicating that this was a possible jackpot, if some unfortunate soul had managed to off themselves so close to them. Steve raised an eyebrow in turn. He knew that Bucky didn’t enjoy Lander flesh. He said it was too ‘stringy.’

“Is it even fresh?” Bucky asked. A reasonable question, to be sure. They were opportunistic hunters, to say the least, but there were limits. They swam closer, and found a female Lander pinned under some kind of box and a pile of ropes. 

“It’s a shame.” Bucky said, jerking Steve out of his perusal of her form.

“What?” What was a shame? Was she not fresh enough? She looked better than anything they had ever eaten…. 

“It’s a shame that she’s down here…” Bucky said, looking at her face thoughtfully. “She’s rather pretty… Prettier than Pearl, at least.”

“Ugh- Pearl.” Steve scoffed, thinking of the towheaded mermaid that had been rather insistently making her candidacy for mating known for the past several years. Ever since Steve had gone through his second puberty, really. But Steve and Bucky were not interested. 

Their mateship had been accepted by the village once they had made it understood that they were still looking for their third, their egg-bearer, but that meant that anyone was free to attempt to catch their eye. Most of their peers had backed off when it was clear the interest was not reciprocated, but not Pearl, who continued to be insistent. Steve had asked Natasha for advice, but there was nothing they could really do. Bucky was in favor of arranging an ‘accident’ the next time she ventured out to the planes, but Steve had shot that idea down before went anywhere. 

They worked for a moment to free their prize, and Steve made an exclamation of surprise as the last rope was lifted from her neck. Steve leaned in for a closer look and, at his gesture, Bucky did as well. Her shirt had been ripped at some point, and they could see the top of her sternum. There, on her chest, was some kind of marking. It was glowing purple and seemed otherworldly to their eyes. 

“I didn’t know humans had developed bioluminescence.”

“I don’t think they do, Steve-”

They both jerked back when the girl let loose a stream of air bubbles. The two sea-dwellers shared a look of confusion and then leaned in again, both astounded. 

“Is she still alive?” Steve asked.

“Human’s can’t breath underwater, you know this.” Bucky replied, reminding his companion about the several failed attempts at helping sinking Landers. Bringing someone into their home to recover was one thing, but it only worked if the environment wasn’t their natural adversary. 

The girl released a stream of bubbles again.

“But maybe this one can,” Bucky allowed.

“So she’s alive?” Steve said, tail writhing in excitement. 

“It looks like it.” Bucky stated, looking over their find dubiously.

“Can we keep her?” Steve asked.

Bucky just sighed and slumped his shoulders, knowing he couldn’t say no.


End file.
